


Interloper

by teagarden15



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25413229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teagarden15/pseuds/teagarden15
Summary: Sakuya has an admirer he doesn’t know how to get rid of, so Izumi helps out.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 99





	Interloper

“Thank you again for dinner,” Izumi told Homare as they arrived home. “Though you didn’t have to repay me for helping you.”

“Nonsense,” Homare said, waving his hand through the air as though brushing her words away. “You’ve been a great help by traveling to different sites with me to help inspire poems for my traveling collection. If I don’t express appreciation for my muse, then I’m not worthy to keep her.”

“Right,” Izumi agreed, confused. Homare had referred to her as his muse before, but just what did he mean by keep her? “Well, we stayed out late, so I wonder if everyone will already be in their rooms,” Izumi commented as they stepped inside. 

She was surprised to see a handful of people still hanging out in the common area. Omi was in the kitchen while Tsuzuru and Kazunari sat at the kitchen table talking. Sakuya was sitting on the couch with—someone Izumi didn’t know. Some girl Izumi didn’t know who was sitting very close to Sakuya while Sakuya looked distinctly uncomfortable. 

“Director!” Sakuya said, springing to his feet, which caused the girl sitting next to him to frown up at him. “Welcome home! How was your dinner?”

“It was excellent,” Homare said, answering for her. “We must go there again sometime. It was a lovely little place tucked into the woods that held a nostalgic ambiance.” 

“Yes, dinner was lovely,” Izumi agreed. “Has everything been okay here?” She stared at Sakuya as she said this.

“Oh, um, yeah.” He gestured at the girl pouting on the couch. “This is Arisa Mikawa. She just started at my work and I’m training her, so she asked if she could come home with me and ask me some questions . . .” He trailed off awkwardly like he wasn’t sure what to say now. 

Since Izumi knew that Sakuya had gotten off from work hours ago, she couldn’t imagine that this girl had so many questions about the job that she still needed to be there.

“Mikawa was still here when Omi made dinner, so she stayed to eat,” Sakuya explained. “There was a little extra since you and Homare ended up staying out.” 

“I already told you to call me Arisa, Sakuya,” Arisa said, pulling on Sakuya’s sweatshirt. “Can we get back to our discussion now?” 

Sakuya looked reluctant to sit back down, so Izumi said, “Actually, it’s late. I think it’s time for you to leave.” Past time for her to leave if the vibes Sakuya was putting off was any indication. 

“Excuse me?” the girl said, putting her hands on her hips and sneering up at Izumi. “What are you, his mother? We’re both adults, you know. You can’t tell us what to do.”

“Actually, I can,” Izumi said, giving Arisa a cool steady gaze that she’d learned from Sakyo (though she was well aware that it wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating as his). “Because this is a place of business, not a home, and not a place open to the public. Everyone here is a professional who has work or school tomorrow morning meaning that it’s past time for you to leave.” 

Arisa flushed red, but stood and snatched up her jacket. She paused to try to catch Sakuya’s eye and spoke with a tone vastly different from the one she’d used with Izumi. “I’ll see you at work on Thursday, okay Sakuya?” Sakuya merely nodded. Arisa pouted, then scowled as she stomped out. 

“I’m sorry, Director,” Sakuya said, wringing the bottom of his sweatshirt as he stared at the ground. “She was pretty forceful about coming home with me, but I thought it would be okay to help her out since she said she was nervous about starting a new job. I didn’t expect her to stay for so long.” He glanced up at Omi. “I owe you an apology too. Arisa invited herself to dinner without anyone saying anything. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Omi said with a shake of his head. “We had a feeling you weren’t too thrilled with your guest, but were too nice to say so, so we figured we’d stick around.”

“Really?” Sakuya asked, his gaze wide as he peered between Omi, Tsuzuru, and Kazunari. 

“Yeah,” Kazunari confirmed. “Having a girl come after you can be fun, but only if you’re interested in her. It’s definitely not cool if you’re giving off all the signals that you’re not interested in someone, but they keep pushing themselves on you.”

“We were worried she would assault Sakuya the moment they were alone, so we didn’t dare leave,” Tsuzuru sighed. 

“I-I’m sorry!” Sakuya exclaimed, bowing to his fellow actors. “I didn’t mean to cause you all trouble, and now you’ve all stayed up late because of me!”

“It’s fine,” Tsuzuru assured him. “We stayed because we wanted to help, not because we felt obligated to. You’re our friend, after all. And, I wouldn’t know how to handle a situation like that either. How do you get someone to back off from pursuing you without being rude or hurting their feelings?”

“I have an idea!” Izumi said, perking up. She smiled at Sakuya. “How would you feel about telling a little white lie?” 

“A white lie?” Sakuya questioned, tilting his head to the side. “What do you mean?” 

“Well,” Izumi began, crossing her arms and taking on a semi-serious tone. “The Mankai Theater is doing well, but we’re still a small theater working to grow our audience and profit. That means that I need all my actors focused on their work without distractions like dating. Especially since most of you have outside jobs and school. So, you see Sakuya, you can’t date. It’s against the rules of our company. You’ll just have to tell Arisa that you got told off by your director for bringing a girl here since there is no dating allowed.”

Sakuya smiled, his shoulders relaxing like a weight had just been lifted off him. “That makes sense! Thank you, Izumi! That sounds perfect.” He took on a serious look. “I think that’s how I really feel anyway. Acting and the Mankai company are my number one priority. I don’t want to date right now or have outside distractions.” Then he smiled again. “But I don’t think that I’ll tell Mikawa that you told me off, Director. You’re too nice for me to even pretend that you could do that.”

Listening to Sakuya, Izumi was reminded of Tsuzuru once telling her that he was concerned that Sakuya was too pure. She had to agree that it was a possibility. It kind of made her want to wrap him in bubble wrap and put him on a shelf somewhere to make sure the outside world didn’t ruin him. But, if being rejected by his family over and over hadn’t, then he was probably strong enough to handle the outside world too. He just needed a little help every now and again. 

“Sweet, so we’re not allowed to date because we work here?” Itaru asked, walking into the kitchen and making a beeline for the fridge with his eyes glued to his phone. “I know you just made that up to save Sakuya from the succubus, but can I use that excuse too?” 

“Succubus?” Izumi repeated, her brow furrowed.

“It’s a female demon who feeds off of—” he poked his head out of the fridge to stare at Sakuya, who was watching him curiously. “Stuff. Anyway, that sounds like a great excuse for turning down dates to me. Thanks, Director.” He saluted her with the soda he’d pulled out of the fridge before sauntering away.

“That could be a handy way to turn down girls without hurting any feelings,” Omi agreed, rubbing his chin. 

“Um, I’m glad?” Izumi said, wondering if some of her actors were having trouble fending off women. Tsuzuru had told her that Omi was really popular at school, especially with women. She hadn’t been surprised to hear that, but hadn’t considered that maybe it brought Omi some trouble. “I guess so long as you’re happy, then it’s fine. But, to be clear, if anyone really does want to date, then they are allowed to.” 

She received blank looks from the men around her.

Kazunari shrugged. “You already know who holds my heart,” he told her with a wink. “Now that Saku’s problem has been solved, I’m off to bed. Night, everyone.” 

“Kazunari does have a point,” Homare said, smiling at Izumi. “It’s difficult to imagine another woman as inspiring as our director. Where else could I possibly find a muse for my poems?” 

Izumi opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again. “I’m not sure how I’m supposed to take that.”

“Well, they are right!” Sakuya said cheerfully, giving Izumi his signature bright, innocent smile. “I’ve never met anyone as amazing as you! I’m so grateful we have you with us. Good night, everyone. And thank you for the help!”

Izumi stared disbelieving after Sakuya as he left.

“I’m headed to bed too,” Tsuzuru muttered, brushing his cheek as though he could make his blush go away. 

“Yes, yes,” Homare agreed, a spring in his step as he left. “Producing masterpieces requires adequate rest and I must make sure Hisoka actually made it into his bed tonight.”

Izumi gave Omi a dumbfounded look. Had that conversation been as weird as she thought? Or was she making something out of nothing?

Omi grinned at her. “Isn’t nice that you’re so popular among your actors, Director?” 

“I, I guess,” Izumi agreed, wondering what, exactly, Omi meant by popular. It was probably better not to ask. “Good night, Omi.”


End file.
